Weekly Wetlands Sustainability Report - (June 5) NET Africa (www.netafrica.be)

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Weekly Wetland
Sustainability Report
Volume 1 Issue 1 Weekly Wetland Sustainability Report 29 May 2019
Inside This Issue
PG.2 Making the important connections
between SDG 4 Education, schools, indigenous
populations, wetlands and citizen science.
PG. 3. Sio-Setiko wetland and current challenges.
PG. 4 Introducing our new national SDG Youth
Ambassador Jacinta Ruguru, Country
representative for Kenya.
Announcement
Editor
Fadeke Ayoola
NET Africa launches the weekly
wetlands sustainability report to raise
awareness about the holistic value of
wetlands as well as the importance of
improving environmental management
and auditing. Each week the wetlands
sustainability report will feature
different aspects of the value of
wetlands across Africa, focusing on a
wide range of environmental, social,
cultural, economic, political and
sustainable issues.
Volume 1 Issue 1 Weekly Wetland Sustainability Report 29 May 2019 Page 1

With all the advanced technology of GIS
mapping which is an effective pathway of
environmental management, in terms of
preserving and protecting eco-systems which
has resulted in costs savings and greater
efficiency, better decision making, improved
story-telling about changes in the natural
environment, better geographic record and
accounting of changes. The voluntary
participation of citizens’ in wetlands
management can also contribute to the above
benefits. We see examples of good practice in
citizen participation in different parts of the
world. All across western civilization, in Europe
and the USA, we see case studies and examples
of citizen participation in day-to-day monitoring
of the natural environment, including wetlands.
A good example of citizen participation is within
Nebraska, USA. In Nebraska, they have
developed GPS-enabled mobile devices that
citizens can simply download and monitor
wetlands, by submitting reports and providing
evidence through photographs and imagery as
well as making observations. Their contribution
provides on the ground surveillance of wetlands.
Why do we not take the same approach in
Africa? According to the UNCTAD, the digital
economy is evolving in Africa but at different
speeds. While in Nigeria, 32 million people
started to use the Internet between 2012 and
2015, in other African countries (including the
Central African Republic, Eritrea, and South
Sudan), mobile cellular services still reach less
than a third of the population. However, the
potential is there, citizen participation is vital to
complement GPS monitoring, engage citizens
and enhance their education and
understanding of preserving the natural
environment. On the ground, monitoring and
surveillance of natural resources considered
costly. However, the participation of citizens in
the monitoring and surveillance of the natural
environment, if incorporated into their everyday
lives should not be costly.
If all citizens were trained to monitor and conduct
surveillance of natural resources such as ecosystems and
wetlands during all stages of their education and community
life, it would reinforce their ecological knowledge, improve
citizen participation, and enhance holistic approaches to
environmental management. We need the entire community
to improve the environmental management of wetlands on a
daily basis, inserted into their everyday routine is the
environmental management of natural resources. We need
to inspire a generation to think of innovative ways of tackling the issues. For
instance, the sustainable development goal, SDG 4.7 states that global
citizenship education and education for sustainable development, which
includes the appreciation of cultural diversity, as well as a cultural
contribution to sustainable development, should be mainstreamed at all
levels into the national educational policies, curricula, and teacher education
and student assessment. The cultural contributions to the monitoring and
surveillance of the natural environment, which includes the traditional
ecological knowledge systems, should be reflected within the educational
system, through the formal curriculum, textbooks, syllabi, documents, and
teachers’ resource materials. If the connections between traditional ecological
knowledge, education in schools and citizen science is not implemented
within the primary and secondary school system then education for
sustainable development will not be viable. There are some good case studies
of primary and secondary schools that have implemented such programs,
(these will be discussed next week), but more school curriculum and syllabi
need to change in order to reflect a sustainable approach to education. Fig.1.
below illustrates the importance of the interconnected relationships between
the different systems that interact with each other.
Making the important connections
between SDG 4 Education, schools,
ecological knowledge, wetlands and
citizen science by Fadeke Ayoola
Fig.1 Interconnected relationships for sustainable development
Source: Natural Environment Technology (NET Africa)

Figure 2: Map of the Sio-Siteko Wetland
The Sio-Siteko Wetland About the Sio-Siteko Wetland System by Fadeke Ayoola
The Sio-Siteko wetland system (Figure 1) extends across the Kenya-Uganda
border. It passes through Busia and Samia Districts in both Kenya and
Uganda and is part of the wider Sio-Malaba-Malakisi catchment. The wetland
consists of a variety of interconnected secondary and tertiary wetland
subsystems that drain into Lake Victoria. The Sio-Siteko wetland river starts
from the foothills of the Kenyan segment of Mount Elgon and has a total
length and catchment area of about 85 km and 1 338 sq. km. respectively
(UNEP, 2012). The Sio-Siteko wetland system provides a number of valuable
ecosystem goods and services, including storing and purifying water that
flows into Lake Victoria. It is also a source of food and construction materials
such as sand, clay, and poles. It also supports agricultural crops such as
arrowroot, sugar cane, potato, maize, and millet. In addition, it stores and
supplies water for domestic and livestock use. The wetland system also filters
and purifies polluted water from urban areas. The Sio-River catchment and
its associated wetlands are a rich fauna and flora repository and provide a
habitat for 206 plant, 29 fish, 25 mammals, 8 reptiles and several
invertebrate species. The wetland is also an Important Bird Area as more than
300 birds species including the globally threatened Papyrus Gonolek and
Pallid Harrier have been recorded there. Some of the mammals that
commonly occur in the area include the Vervet monkey, Otter, Sitatunga,
hippo and water mongoose with the implication that the wetlands have a
considerable ecotourism potential. This, in turn, can improve local
community livelihoods which are currently primarily based on fishing and
horticulture, (UNEP, 2012).
Threats - Poor agricultural husbandry and other unsustainable human
activities have adversely affected the Sio-Siteko wetland system’s water
quality. For example, elevated turbidity, high total dissolved solids and
depleted organic matter have been recorded in the Sio-Siteko wetland system.
These conditions inevitably compromise the wetland’s capacity to act as a
buffer and to sieve effluents from both point (specific) and non-point (diffuse)
sources of pollution.
Land use changes - Increasing human pressure is leading to the
intensification of land use and to overgrazing, overfishing, sand harvesting,
brickmaking and the drainage of the Sio-Siteko wetlands, mostly for
agriculture. The synergistic effect of the above has been to appreciably reduce
water levels and other resources such as sand and clay, organic matter and
grasslands with the latter reducing the amount of nitrogen available in the
top and sub-soils.
Conflicts over resource use - Conflict over the Sio-Siteko wetland system’s
resources is rife between different resource-use interests such as crop
farmers and herdsmen, water users and herdsmen, plant harvesters and
fishermen, grass harvesters and clay miners, and herbalists and crop
farmers. In addition, given that, this is a transboundary wetland complex;
these conflicts often spill over to Kenya and to Uganda as well. Water scarcity
is often a major driver of conflict.
Climate change - The Sio-Siteko Wetland System are particularly vulnerable
to climate change because they occupy the transition zone between aquatic
and terrestrial environments. Slight alterations in precipitation and
groundwater levels can have dramatic effects such as completely drying up,
contraction in size or conversion to uplands. Yet, because they are fragile
natural resources, they deliver a suite of ecosystem services that are
indispensable to life on Earth although these are largely underappreciated.
As a consequence of the latter, wetlands already, face considerable pressure
from several anthropogenic activities and their consequences such as
pollution, overfishing, overgrazing and soil erosion (UNEP, 2012).
Thematic Area:
Water Resources
Climate hazard addressed:
Water scarcity and pollution
Level of intervention:
Community
Key collaborators: Non-
Governmental Organizations
Primary Beneficiaries:
Crop farmers, herdsmen, water
users, plant & grass harvesters,
fishermen, herbalists and indigenous
people
Involving communities in the
management of wetlands. Both
governments of Uganda and Kenya
have policies supporting community
based environmental management
approaches to combating
environmental degradation. In
Uganda, the lowest level structure is
the micro management committee
comprises of community
members/farmers. In Kenya the
lowest level structure are the Water
Resources Users Associations
(WRUAs) comprising of community
level members.
NET Africa is currently developing a project within the Sio-Siteko Wetland

Jacinta Ruguru
National SDG Youth
Ambassador in
Kenya
“My aspiration is to
integrate SDGs into
every aspect of life
in order to promote
sustainable
livelihoods,
conservation of
natural resources
and the built
environment.”
Newly appointed National SDG Youth Ambassador in Kenya
- Jacinta Ruguru
I am Jacinta Ruguru National SDG Youth Ambassador in Kenya. I hold a bachelor's degree in
Environmental Planning and Management from Kenyatta University. I am passionate about how
environmental conservation integrates into the SDGs. My role as a Youth Ambassador is to
produce weekly reports, which feature in NET Africa's weekly news report on websites and social
media platforms. I have experience in the field of environmental planning, including education for
sustainable development, environmental conservation, computer applications, environmental
monitoring, analysis, and system modeling, environmental impact assessment, audit, research
methods, data collection and analysis, SPSS, climate change mitigation and adaptation, integrated
environmental management, urban design, leadership, and mentorship. I have participated in
wetland conservation through cleanup activities in wetlands, particularly along the shores of the
Indian Ocean, tree planting on encroached wetlands to reclaim them, community empowerment
and education on the measures to mitigate the effects of climate change. Through this, the
communities are able to conserve the wetlands for their own good since they contribute to food
security. On waste management I have participated in local river cleanups and streets, I also
educate people on the reduction of plastic use through proper disposal into the designated areas.
During my internship period at our national environmental watchdog institution, National
Environment Management Authority (NEMA), I have participated in inspection activities to inspect
the use of plastics since the ban in the country through charging the ones still using them and
encouraging the ones adhering to the laws to continue doing that in order to keep our environment
clean. I have carried out various research projects including the effects of climate variability on
coffee production, the effects of upstream river users on the downstream river users, assessment
of the rural communities neighboring conservancies and their role and the effectiveness of public
participation in Environmental management. My aspiration is to integrate SDGs into every aspect
of life in order to promote sustainable livelihoods, conservation of natural resources and the built
environment.
Newly appointed East African Regional SDG Youth Ambassador
- Henry Gandhi
Poverty drives (and is driven by) environmental degradation. At the core of the beautiful ‘valley’ of
Kobong’ village was born a man – who, under the mercy of his uncle developed a deep affection
for trees, that man was I. My Uncle introduced to me the nexus of trees, wetlands, and
sustainability while I was young and everything else manifested! Prior to joining NET Africa,
Gandhi has been part of the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC), a movement of
youth professionals embroiled in environmental conservation, good ecosystem practices, and
advocacy. At Natural Environment Technology (NET Africa), I am responsible for coordinating
regionally based plans; agenda policies; wetlands mapping; weekly research & reports; focus and
work agenda within East African region (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi). I have
previously worked at Kenya National Academy of Sciences (KNAS) as programs officer tasked with
issues of environment, health and Science, Technology & Innovation (STI) for sustainable
development. Furthermore and most importantly, I developed concept papers on a myriad of
societal issues such as socio-economic and environmental l effects of the proposed Lamu Coal
Project; responsible extractions of rare earth elements; and community rights and involvement
(citizen science) on the exploitation of natural resources. These particularly addressed the holistic
value of wetlands and other disputed natural resources, which had a direct impact on the lives of
communities involved. During my pursuit of responsible and responsive society, I have had the
opportunity to leverage my skills in international and local partnerships/collaborations;
organizational capacity building and grant schemes to contribute positively to global Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). Suffice to say, I take keen research interest on areas of indigenous
knowledge and pharmacopeia; environmental audit, conservation, and sustainability; integrated
waste management practices; human responsibility and accountability over nature – all aimed at
attaining a conducive and sustainable ecosystem. I subscribe to local and international affiliations
including but are not limited to Kenya Wildlife and Forest Group (KWFG), African Youth Initiative
on Climate Change (AYICC) and Global Youth Forum (GYF). In the spirit of innovative
volunteerism, I am the founder of African Youth Initiative on Non-Communicable Diseases
(AYINOCOD) as well Lakeside Science and Entrepreneurship Centre (LASEC), which is a platform
that seeks to mentor and grow young people in response to the rise of the disruptive technologies.
Gandhi holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Nairobi.
Aligning and integrating my passion, skills, and knowledge to NET Africa strategic plan2020-2030
in relation to SDGs and Wetlands, I am deeply engrossed in the belief that through synergistic
and multi-sectoral approaches, environmental conservation is the ultimate key to attaining
sustainable development in Africa and other parts of the world.
Henry Gandhi
Regional East
African SDG Youth
Ambassador in
Kenya
“Aligning and
integrating my
passion, skills, and
knowledge to NET
Africa strategic
plan2020-2030 in
relation to SDGs
and Wetlands, I am
deeply engrossed in
the belief that
through synergistic
and multi-sectoral
approaches,
environmental
conservation is the
ultimate key to
attaining
sustainable
development in
Africa and other
parts of the world.”

Weekly Wetlands Sustainability Report - (June 5) NET Africa (www.netafrica.be)

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